Associations between PBDEs exposure from house dust and human semen quality at an e-waste areas in South China–A pilot study

Abstract

Previous studies have confirmed that house dust is one of the main sources of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exposure, and also indicated that PBDEs might affect human semen quality. The aim of this study was to explore the association between PBDEs concentration in house dust and the semen quality of male resident. Results showed that the semen qualities of the residents living around the e-waste dismantling workshops for a long time (3–17years) at the e-waste areas in South China significantly decreased, and the DNA damage of sperms were aggravated. The adjusted correlation analysed by multiple linear regression model showed that the sperm concentration and count both had negative correlation with BDE47 level in semen (β = −0.295, 95%CI: −0.553∼-0.036; β = −0.400, 95%CI: −0.708∼-0.092, respectively). In addition, the sperm progressive motility [(A+B)%] and sperm viability both had negative correlation with BDE100 level in dust (β = −0.360, 95%CI: −0.680∼-0.040; β = −0.114, 95% CI: −0.203∼-0.025, respectively). And there were significant linear positive correlation between PBDE congener (e.g. BDE28, 47, 153) concentrations in dust and in paired semen samples (rs = 0.367–0.547, p < 0.05). This study suggested that exposure to PBDEs from house dust might have adverse effects on human semen quality. But the results need to be confirmed in further studies with a large-scale sampling, and find out more direct and convincing evidence.